Happy Thanksgiving

We have a lot to be thankful for this year.  Our family is healthy; Katie is graduating from the University of Colorado Denver next month; and the house construction has proceeded with very few, minor hiccups.  We solved one of those hiccups last Friday when Xcel finally connected the gas service.  After digging up the roadway three times, they finally set the gas meter and our furnace fired up.  We now have heat throughout the house.  This is important for we are priming and plastering the walls this week.  If all goes well, flooring installation will start next week.
 

We are looking forward to many celebrations in our new home, starting in 2015.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hanging Drywall

The last week was bitter cold.  The arctic weather system kept high temps below 20 degrees for most days of the week.  But, Mark brought in heaters and our drywall crew was able to keep working.  They hung the drywall throughout the house and, now, we can really see the rooms.  We worried that the house would feel a lot smaller but that didn't happen.  The windows and high ceilings helped maintain the sense of large spaces.  Now, we need the weather to warm up so the drywall can be taped and mudded and the final stucco coat applied.  Fortunately, the sun is out this week and the snow is melting, both good signs.

Sheetrock!

The sheetrock was delivered on Wednesday, all 400 sheets.  That's right, they loaded it into the house through the windows.  It adds at least 20,000 lbs to the house.  Our contractor will wait until all the sheetrock is hung before applying the final finish coat of stucco.  All that additional weight causes normal cracking in the stucco base layer.  The drywall crew started hanging the sheetrock on Thursday.  As they move
through the house, we can see the final size of each room.

It's Been a While

We know.  We have not uploaded a new post for over 2 weeks.  We blame it on travel and deadlines at work. Despite this, the construction has achieved several milestones.  Most notably, the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and framing all passed inspection.  With that, the insulation contractor installed all the insulation in the exterior walls and ceilings, and a few important interior walls (e.g., bathroom walls). Most of the insulation was blown in, which gives a higher R-value.

The insulation makes the house retain the heat from the sun during the day.

Number 1 or Number 2?

We are so happy our dumpster is useful for the neighborhood. Mattresses, lumber, paint cans, and pipes.  The contributions keep coming...even toilets!!

Stucco Scratch Coat

Wow, it's been 10 days since we last posted to the blog.  During this time, the electrician has been wiring the house - geez we have a lot of light switches.  Also, last weekend, the stucco crew returned and applied the base scratch coat of stucco.  It's not the final finished coat with the light grey exterior color.  That goes on later.  Once the roofers finish installing the flashing around the edges, the house is weather proof.  Bring on winter!

Prepping for Stucco

The major work this past week was preparing the house for stucco.  The crew worked through last weekend to attach paper and lathing to exterior walls.  Their work passed inspection on Thursday and the stucco scratch coat will be applied this upcoming week.  Meanwhile, we walked the house with Karen and Paul, our architects, John, our electrician, and Mark on Wednesday and finalized the electrical and lighting choices so the electrical rough-in can be completed.